Type Private Religious affiliation Roman Catholic | Established 2005 (12 years ago) Chancellor Gareth N. Genner | |
Motto Latin: Ministrare non ministrari.
(To serve and not to be served.) President Msgr. Edward J. Dillon, J.C.D. | ||
Holy Spirit College (HSC) is a private Roman Catholic university located in Atlanta. The college describes itself as an "authentic Catholic college" in the spirit of the apostolic constitution Ex corde ecclesiae of Pope John Paul II.
Contents
History
Holy Spirit College was founded in 2005 as an undergraduate college offering courses in the Liberal Arts to students of Holy Spirit Preparatory School.
Starting in fall 2010, the college admitted its first class of full-time undergraduate students pursuing bachelor's degrees in philosophy. These students were offered majors in Philosophy, Theology and Catholic Education.
Coat of arms
The college's institutional coat of arms was created by the heraldic designer James-Charles Noonan, and is blazoned as follows:
Azure, between three fleur de lys, one in bend in the dexter chief point, one in bend sinister in the sinister chief point, one in pale in center base point or, on a nimbus set around the rim with three equidistant bosses or, the dove of the Holy Spirit descending argent flammant proper.
The crest is blazoned as:
On a torse of the colors argent and azure a lamp of learning or, its flames proper.
Governance
The college's chancellor is Monsignor Edward J. Dillon, J.C.D.; the college's president is Gareth N. Genner, and Archbishop John Francis Donoghue is rector.
Campus and student life
The college's campus is located on grounds shared with Holy Spirit Parish and Holy Spirit Preparatory School. A Commons Building provides the college with facilities for study, dining and relaxation; the parish complex offers a library and college lecture theaters.
Student life on the campus includes community dinners, which provide the opportunity for "social discourse between the members of the community and ... a venue to welcome distinguished guests into the fellowship of the College". Student organizations include a college chapter of the Knights of Columbus (in formation), and chapters of two campus-based service organizations: Kappa Delta Omega (fraternity) and Kappa Alpha Phi (sorority).
The college also sponsors a variety of club and intramural sports, including track, cross-country, basketball, tennis, soccer, and golf.
Academics
The college was founded for the purpose of providing programs to Holy Spirit Preparatory School leading to an Associate of Arts degree or certificates in philosophy or the liberal arts.
In 2010, however, the college announced that it is planning to expand its course offerings and academic focus. Starting in the fall of 2010, the college now offers a bachelor's degree program, while maintaining an emphasis on theology, philosophy and liberal arts. Courses in political and social sciences have been added.
The college offers study abroad programs each summer alternating between Rome and Oxford University.
Affiliations and accreditation
Though an independent Catholic college not affiliated with any religious order or congregation, Holy Spirit maintains a close association with Holy Spirit Parish, and the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
The college is fully accredited by the American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) to award the Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil) degree, and is authorized to grant degrees by the Georgia Non-Public Secondary Education Commission (GNPEC). The college also maintains memberships in the American Catholic Philosophical Association (ACPA), the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, and the Shakespeare Association of America. Holy Spirit is not accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the regional accreditation association which covers Georgia.